By Caroline Richard, Research Assistant, LASPAU
Higher education in Colombia faces numerous challenges. Institutions seek to function normally within a context of instability that has been the reality in Colombia for over thirty years. The reduction in government funding for education has restricted new research, particularly in science and technology. Following global trends, faculty and students are demanding more academic opportunities abroad in order to gain the skills required by an increasingly internationalized economy. At the same time, Colombian universities are competing to attract greater numbers of international students.
Marco Fidel Rocha, rector of the Colegio de Estudios Superiores de Administración (CESA) in Bogotá, believes that education holds the key to Colombia’s future. According to Rocha, “Higher education institutions should play a fundamental role in the recuperation of peace and economic normalization.” In this respect, CESA represents a model institution. Founded in 1974, CESA’s mission is “to prepare the next generation of leaders with the entrepreneurial skills, ethical values, and social commitment needed in order to make Colombia a more just, competitive, and peaceful nation.”
Earlier this year, CESA acquired a new tool to align the quality of its students and curriculum with its mission: the Prueba de Admisión a Estudios de Postgrado (PAEP). The PAEP, administered by LASPAU, is a standardized Spanish-language test that assesses the academic and cognitive abilities of candidates for graduate-level programs. CESA will utilize the PAEP both in this traditional modality and in an innovative way: It is the first university that will administer the test to undergraduates during their final semester.
According to Rocha, the PAEP benefits CESA tremendously by performing multiple functions: “The PAEP helps us to identify the capabilities both of our applicants, which elevates the quality of our admissions process, and of our graduating seniors about to enter the labor market, which serves as an internal evaluation of our curriculum. Furthermore, it helps us to detect the ‘added value’ that our graduates will bring to the Colombian business sector through their entreprenuerial spirit—and it is the development of this quality that is critical to the social, political, and economic future of a country like Colombia.”
The PAEP also contributes to CESA’s international vision, which is to broaden its institutional relationships abroad; to provide students, alumni, and faculty with greater opportunities for international exchanges; and to facilitate the business community’s understanding of globalization and ability to compete in international markets, all with the end goal of enhancing Colombia’s economic competitiveness. Rocha affirms the PAEP’s role in making this vision a reality: “The establishment of competition, at the national and international levels, is essential in order for us to evaluate our fields of study and program content, and to compete with confidence in academic and professional arenas.”
In the midst of Colombia’s current challenges, CESA demonstrates the power of education to illuminate the road ahead. However, higher education institutions still face numerous obstacles. Rocha believes that the PAEP lends tremendous support to CESA, to other universities, and, ultimately, to his country: “A reliable instrument like the PAEP, which measures academic effort at an international level, is invaluable for every country, but particularly invaluable for Colombia, where we encounter great challenges within our borders and around the world. Higher education provides a fundamental base from which a nation can perform its own responsibilities as part of an international community.”
LASPAU looks forward to accompanying CESA on its journey.
For more information about the PAEP, visit http://www.laspau.harvard.edu/paep/
To learn more about CESA, please visit http://www.cesa.edu.co/
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
|
